‘Robots’ iPad App: A Delightful Reference for Everything Robot

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about popular robots with the Robots app. Image: Christina Bonnington/Wired

We love robots. The trouble is, there are so many cool consumer and research robots out there that it can be hard to keep track of them all. Luckily, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and its publication IEEE Spectrum have built Robots, a simple, interactive reference app about all things ‘bot.

The Robots iPad app is super polished and easy to navigate. It features over 100 real-world robots, from the classically creepy Furby to the blobular Keepon to the Anybots’ QB telepresence robot. Each entry features large, high-resolution photographs of the ‘bot, videos and other interactive features. Fun factoids and full specs of each robot are also included.

You can rate each robot from one to five stars, and rate its creepiness level. You can also favorite robots, which lets you quickly access them from the “favorites” tab.

The app also contains practical information, like how to get started in robotics, as well as a glossary of robotics terms, a historical timeline of robotic innovations, and information about the unpleasant phenomenon known as the Uncanny Valley.

At $5, this app isn’t cheap, but it provides a wealth of robotics information that’d be difficult to aggregate on your own. If someone in your family is a budding engineer, or suffers from a crippling obsession with all things animatronic, you’d be well served by the investment. You can get the Robots app from the App Store here.